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Towns / Texas

Tye, Texas

Tye is a small town of about 1,300 people in Taylor County, Texas. It has grown about 7% since 2020. A typical home costs about 1.3 years of the typical household's income, compared with 4.1 across the U.S. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, Dallas, is about 182 miles away as the crow flies.

Population
1,264
up 7% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$62,600
Taylor County prices up 12% since 2022
Household income
$48,421
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, Abilene area
90.4
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
8 miles
Abilene, TX
To Dallas
182 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 9.6% below the U.S. average in the Abilene metro area.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 1.3 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhood2 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 1.6 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 4.8 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in townNo public schools inside the town. The nearest high school is Abilene H S, about 6 miles away.
  • A hospital close byHendrick Medical Center in Abilene, about 8 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityDallas is about 182 miles away as the crow flies. The book suggests staying within about 60 miles if you'll miss big-city sports, concerts and theater.

A check means Tye meets the rule of thumb from Frank and Dave's book. An empty box isn't a deal breaker: it's something to weigh for your family. A question mark means there isn't enough data.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$62,600U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 12%Taylor County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$940 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$48,421U.S.: $80,734
Homes built before 1940
7%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
11%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
3%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
90.4U.S. average = 100 (the Abilene metro area)

Home values and rents are what households told the Census Bureau across 2020 to 2024, so they trail today's market: county prices have moved up 12% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the Abilene metro area, not Tye alone. Check current listings before you budget.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates; Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.

The people

Population, 2025 estimate
1,2642020: 1,181
Median age
43.8 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
20%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
18%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
5%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
3%U.S.: 6%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Work

Biggest lines of work
Schools, health care and social services (23%); manufacturing (15%)
Unemployment rate
1%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
21 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
2%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
11%U.S.: 12%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Hendrick Medical Center, Abilene, TX, about 8 miles away. It's a general hospital. Medicare gives it 3 of 5 stars.

Look up doctors, clinics and the hospitals themselves on Medicare's Care Compare. Ask where the most serious cases are sent.

Sources: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information.

Schools

There are no public schools inside Tye itself. The nearest public high school is Abilene H S, about 6 miles away.

See each school on the federal school search, then check test scores and graduation rates on Texas's school report card.

Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal); National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024.

Weather

January average low
34°F
July average high
96°F
Days 90°F or hotter
102 a year
Nights at or below freezing
48 a year
Rain and melted snow
25.2 inches a year
Snow
4 inches a year
Elevation
1,811 feet

Weather station: Abilene Rgnl Ap (11 miles away). Averages for 1991 to 2020.

Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020; U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program.

Getting around

Straight-line miles. The road is always longer, and as the book says, an interstate at 70 is a different trip from a farm road at 45. Check the real drive: Hendrick Medical Center, Abilene, Dallas.

Taylor County is in a metro area of fewer than 250,000 people (USDA rural-urban code 3, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

Read about Tye's history on Wikipedia.

Know Tye?

Tell us what a visitor shouldn't miss, and what living there is really like. Write to Main Street at mainstreet@smalltownguide.com. The best notes from people who know the town will be added here.

Nearby

Straight-line miles.

Small towns

Smaller places

  • Hawley, TX580 people, 11 miles
  • Buffalo Gap, TX684 people, 12 miles

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025)
  2. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates
  3. Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions)
  4. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
  5. FBI, Crime in the United States, Table 8 (offenses known to law enforcement by city)
  6. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information
  7. National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal)
  8. National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024
  9. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020
  10. U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program
  11. National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places listings
  12. National Park Service, park unit boundaries
  13. USDA Economic Research Service, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023
  14. U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Gazetteer files and 2020 urban areas

Census survey figures are estimates with a margin of error; we leave out any figure whose margin is too wide to be useful. Data last gathered October 5, 2026. See something wrong? Write to mainstreet@smalltownguide.com.